ACOs need time before they see savings

Accountable care organizations are finally achieving real savings for CMS, according to recent figures, with the majority of savings coming from ACOs that have been in the game longer.

The longer ACOs are in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), the more they save, according to an analysis from Avalere Health, a Washington, D.C.-based healthcare consulting firm.

In 2017, ACOs saved Medicare $314 million, according to CMS calculations. Nearly all of these savings were achieved by ACOs that had been in the shared savings program for four or more years, according to Avalere.

“These results reinforce what we have heard from accountable care organizations—that they need time to realize the fruits of their investments,” Gabriel Sullivan, manager at Avalere, said in the analysis. “Experience matters in driving positive financial performance among accountable care organizations.”